{"id":1542,"date":"2025-08-23T05:05:55","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T05:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=1542"},"modified":"2025-08-23T05:05:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T05:05:55","slug":"hoaxes-and-panic-swatting-incident-at-villanova-is-a-national-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=1542","title":{"rendered":"Hoaxes and panic: &#8216;Swatting&#8217; incident at Villanova is a national problem"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The alert to students at\u00a0Villanova University\u00a0was terrifying: &#8220;ACTIVE SHOOTER on VU campus. Move to secure location. Lock\/barricade doors. More info to follow.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Video and photos posted to social media show the mass panic that ensued Thursday, Aug. 21, as students were preparing for the start of fall classes. Waves of students were\u00a0running for their lives, some posted about how they had\u00a0barricaded themselves\u00a0wherever they were when the text came in, and others simply posted about how scared they were.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Villanova active shooter hoax: Police continue to investigate possible swatting incident\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0X5NfDpbp1c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hi guys i\u2019m a freshman at villanova. active shooter alert during the middle of opening mass for students,&#8221;\u00a0a poster wrote on X. &#8220;everyone is hiding. pleaee just keep me in your thoughts. i\u2019m very scared.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It was all a &#8220;cruel hoax,&#8221; the university announced about 90 minutes after the alert went out.<\/p>\n<p>At many levels across America, such hoaxes have been plaguing the nation for years, including at schools, grocery stores, office buildings and airports \u2212 anywhere large groups of people gather. Also known as swatting, they&#8217;re defined as false reports of serious crimes intended to spark a heavy law enforcement response.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s an enormous problem,&#8221; said\u00a0Elizabeth Jaffe, associate professor at Atlanta\u2019s John Marshall Law School whose focus is cyberbullying and social media. &#8220;One incident is a major problem, so if we&#8217;ve got hundreds and thousands, it\u2019s an evolving epidemic.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-lightbox\" data-lightbox-src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/gwHrYT.kLzG6AkwWKWM8Vg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTI0MDA7aD0xODAwO2NmPXdlYnA-\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/usa_today_news_641\/459420d0eedf7c1cf81124b3ef2c225e\"><span class=\"caas-img-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"caas-img caas-lazy has-preview caas-loaded\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/q.B1A_QnvlnxTi6WHf6R9A--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcyMDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/usa_today_news_641\/459420d0eedf7c1cf81124b3ef2c225e\" alt=\"A lost and found of loose items thrown while running into shelter from an active shooter hoax at Villanova University on Aug. 21, 2025\" data-caas-lazy-loading-init=\"1\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\">\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\" data-id=\"m-0\">A lost and found of loose items thrown while running into shelter from an active shooter hoax at Villanova University on Aug. 21, 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Estimated swatting incidents jumped from 400 in 2011 to more than 1,000 in 2019,\u00a0according to the Anti-Defamation League, which cited a former FBI agent whose expertise is in swatting.<\/p>\n<p>From January 2023 to June 2024 alone,\u00a0more than 800 instances of swatting were recorded at U.S. elementary, middle and high schools, according to the K-12 School Shootings Database, created by a University of Central Florida doctoral student in response to the Parkland High School shooting in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI has been aware of the problem since\u00a0at least 2008. It became so pervasive that in 2023, the FBI launched a database for law enforcement agencies to report swatting incidents, according to an FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division\u00a0announcement.<\/p>\n<p>In the wake of the panic at Villanova, USA TODAY is looking at just how common hoaxes that cause mass panic are, why they happen, what the repurcussions are and what can be done.<\/p>\n<h2>Who is doing the swatting and why?<\/h2>\n<p>Swatting emerged as a popular if potentially deadly hoax\u00a0among gamers\u00a0in the early 2000s, according to researchers at the Anti-Defamation League. Since then, it has become a tool used by everyone from pranksters to online extremists, according to Carla Hill, senior director of investigative research at the Anti-Defamation League.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It used to be someone would pull the fire alarm because they didn&#8217;t want to go to school. Now they swat the school,&#8221; Hill said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They get a thrill out of it,&#8221; Jaffe said.<\/p>\n<p>Hill, who has also worked to track swatters, played an instrumental role in an\u00a0FBI investigation\u00a0into a ring of swatters targeting Jewish and minority institutions in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Hill said she got lucky in the case because the group was bragging about the exploits online. The group targeted at least\u00a025 synagogues\u00a0in 13 states, according to the FBI.<\/p>\n<p>But unless a swatter uses their own phone or speaks about it publicly, the person can be difficult for law enforcement to track. &#8220;There\u2019s so many ways you can do it without being traceable,&#8221; Hill said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"caas-img caas-lazy has-preview caas-loaded\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/7aPjJPMn7mPNOSCEuzKjjA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcyMDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/usa_today_news_641\/750addf83039135174757bb8f7357ad9\" alt=\"Students gather in prayer after an active shooting hoax at Villanova University on Aug. 21, 2025.\" data-caas-lazy-loading-init=\"1\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\">\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\" data-id=\"m-1\">Students gather in prayer after an active shooting hoax at Villanova University on Aug. 21, 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Why is swatting such a big problem?<\/h2>\n<p>Hoaxes not only disrupt schools and businesses, but they also drain police, fire and EMS resources that race to the scene.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have to treat each one as real until we know it&#8217;s a hoax,&#8221; Kelly Smith, former assistant special agent in charge of the FBI&#8217;s Seattle\u00a0office, said in\u00a0an agency video about the problem. &#8220;We direct law enforcement resources away from other active investigations, and that causes a significant strain on the resources of both our agency and our local police departments.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>David Riedman, a data scientist and creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database, estimates that in 2023,\u00a0it cost $82,300,000\u00a0for police to respond to false threats.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s also the human toll.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It causes trauma for students, parents and communities,&#8221; said John DeCarlo, a former police chief who has responded to hoaxes and who is now a professor at the University of New Haven\u2019s Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences. &#8220;While the call itself may be a lie, the panic and trauma it creates are very real.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Hoax calls also can land innocent bystanders in dangerous situations. Four Black undergraduate students at Harvard University wound up being held\u00a0at gunpoint\u00a0during a swatting incident at the Ivy League school in 2023, according to reporting by The Harvard Crimson.<\/p>\n<p>And some cases of swatting have turned deadly. Tyler Barriss, a gamer with a history of making hoax calls, was sentenced to\u00a020 years in prison\u00a0in connection with the shooting death of Andrew Finch in Wichita, Kansas, in 2017, according to reporting by NBC News. Finch was shot and killed by police responding to a swatting call Barriss made. Finch, who did not know Barriss, lived at an address where Barriss believed his target was.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-lightbox\" data-lightbox-src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/0eXMCZa.ccaiwVF8gYZgLQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTI0MDA7aD0xODAwO2NmPXdlYnA-\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/usa_today_news_641\/a27467dcabe3bed5bbe7f478ef2dedd9\"><span class=\"caas-img-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"caas-img caas-lazy has-preview caas-loaded\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/YLQn54TNJLHWWFoz2Wflew--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcyMDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/usa_today_news_641\/a27467dcabe3bed5bbe7f478ef2dedd9\" alt=\"Families and students pray together at a campus-wide blessing after an active shooter hoax at Villanova University on Aug. 21, 2025\" data-caas-lazy-loading-init=\"1\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\">\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\" data-id=\"m-2\">Families and students pray together at a campus-wide blessing after an active shooter hoax at Villanova University on Aug. 21, 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>What can be done about swatting?<\/h2>\n<p>Experts agree that stronger laws, harsher penalties and better technology to track swatters are needed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s often like this with technology: We need to catch up,&#8221; Hill said, adding there are stronger protections in some states. &#8220;We need to get some laws on the books.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>DeCarlo said one major step was the FBI treating swatting as a federal offense but agreed that technology is a major hurdle because it can allow swatters to mask their voices, IP addresses and identities. He expects more swatting incidents similar to Villanova&#8217;s as authorities scramble for solutions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The fact is every hoax call like this diverts officers from real emergencies and real risks, and that\u2019s the real tragedy of it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It takes public protection away where it&#8217;s needed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat<\/em>.\u00a0<em>Michael Loria is a national reporter on the USA TODAY breaking news desk. Contact him at mloria@usatoday.com, @mchael_mchael or on Signal at (202) 290-4585.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:\u00a0Cruel hoax at Villanova is part of a bigger problem. What can we do?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The alert to students at\u00a0Villanova University\u00a0was terrifying: &#8220;ACTIVE SHOOTER on VU campus. Move to secure location. Lock\/barricade doors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,7,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","category-news","category-us"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1542"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1544,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542\/revisions\/1544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}